The Reign of Jahangir, 1605-1627

During his 50-year reign, Akbar accumulated much wealth from the political
and commercial centers in northern India. His immediate successors, Jahangir and
Shah Jahan, were able to surround themselves with a splendor and opulence
unequaled by any other Muslim dynasty.

From the beginning, Jahangir's life was overshadowed by the achievements of
his father Akbar. Jahangir grew up resentful of his masterful parents and
bitterly jealous of his father's long-established coterie of advisers who must
have interfered between father and son. Hambly writes that despite Jahangir's
acute intelligence, the Mughal ruler was generally indifferent to the larger
interests of the empire. Moreover, he lacked any obvious inclination for warfare
and was bored by the humdrum details of day-to-day administration. Jahangir was
self-indulgent and sensual with a streak of cruelty that emanated from a weak
personality.

Despite Jahangir's disinterest in expansion, the imperial frontiers continued
to move forward -- in Bengal, Mewar and Ahamadnagar. The only major reversal to
the expansion came in 1622 when Shah Abbas, the Safavid ruler of Iran, captured
Kandahar with impunity.

Jahangir lived under the spell of personalities that were more colorful than
his own; the most influential of these personalities was the beautiful Nur Jahan
whom he married in 1611. Nur Jahan then became the real ruler of the empire
until the death of her husband Jahangir.

Nur Jahan's Persian grandfather was in the service of Shah Tahmasb; the
grandfather died in Yazd laden with honors. His heirs, however, soon fell upon
hard times, and his son, Mirza Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad, was forced to set out for
India with his family. In 1577, during the trip to India, his wife gave birth at
Kandahar to a eautiful daughter, Mihr al-Nisa (Sun of Women). Later, Jahangir
would give Mihr al-Nisa the name of Nur Mahal (Light of the Palace) which he
later expanded to Nur Jahan (Light of the World).

Mihr al-Nisa's father, Mirza Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad, made his way to Akbar's
court at Fatehpur Sikri and rose rapidly in the imperial hierarchy. He held many
important positions including that of diwan of Kabul; he ended his days with the
rank of commander and the proud title of Itimad al-Dawleh (Pillar of the State).
His son, Asaf Khan, was an urbane and affable courtier and a sharp fiscal
administrator who secured the favor of both Jahangir and Shah Jahan, writes
Hambly.

The son attained the highest provincial governorships and finally the rank of
commander-in-chief. Hambly notes that in 1612, a year after Mihr al-Nisa's
marriage to Jahangir, Asaf Khan arranged for his daughter, Arjumand Banu Begum,
to marry Prince Khurram, one of Jahangir's younger sons. Fifteen years later,
Khurram would ascend to the throne as the emperor Shah Jahan. Nur Jahan's niece
would win immortality as Mumtaz Mahal, the woman in whose honor the Taj Mahal
was built.

Jahangir's wife, Nur Jahan, was an excellent conversationalist, a fine judge
of Persian poetry and a poet herself. Her accomplishments made her an
irresistible companion for the emperor. Nur Jahan was a patron of painting and
architecture whose interests also extended to the decoration of rooms as well as
the designing of ornaments, brocades, rugs and dresses. The fashions in women's
clothing that she adopted were still in vogue at the end of the 16th century.

Nur Jahan was Jahangir's favorite companion. She shared his interests in fine
artistic objects and precious stones. Nur Jahan also assisted Jahangir in the
layout and design of Persian gardens like the beautiful Shalimar-Bagh on the Dal
Lake in Kashmir.

Jahangir's love of flowers and animals is reflected in the numerous
miniatures painted by artists who shared their master's keen eye for the
beauties of wild nature. Sir Thomas Roe, the ambassador of James I of England,
was amazed at Jahangir's knowledge and discriminating taste where pictures were
concerned.

Jahangir was not particularly interested in architecture, but one of the
buildings that dates from his reign ranks among the finest achievements of the
Mughal spirit. This is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyath Beg, usually known by his title
I'timad ad-Dawlah (Pillar of the State), built at Agra by Nur Jahan (Light of
the World) for her father who died in 1622. The tomb stands in a quadripartite
garden. The enclosure walls, a guest-house on the river Yamuna and the podium
are made of traditional red sandstone inlaid with colored marble.

The tomb of I'timad ad-Dawlah is the first structure in India in which white
marble replaces red sandstone as the ground for polychrome pietra dura inlay.
The tomb, measuring about 22 yards on a side, contains a central tomb chamber
surrounded by square and rectangular rooms decorated with carved painted plaster
in the Persianate style. The broad octagonal towers, like minarets, mark the
corners, and a small pavilion or upper story rises above the roof. Three arched
openings on each side provide shadows which contrast with the gleaming surface,
while the cornice and eaves mark strong horizontal lines.

The modest, jewel-like building is remarkable for its delicate but exuberant
decoration and warm tonality. The traditional technique of inlay has changed;
opus sectile, marble intarsia of various colors, has been replaced by pietra
dura, in which hard and rare stones such as lapis, onyx, jasper, topaz,
carnelian and agate were embedded in the marble.

Traditional geometric designs and arabesques are combined with
representational motifs of drinking cups, vases with flowers, cypress trees and
visual descriptions of Paradise from the Holy Qur'an. The intricate inlay in
yellow, brown, gray and black, contrasting with the smooth white marble,
prefigures the later phase of white marble garnished with gold and precious
stones that marks the most sumptuous buildings constructed under later Mughal
patronage.